HART – While they may be young, both of Hart’s cross country squads continue to dominate the competition inside the West Michigan Conference Rivers Division. The Pirates flashed that, Tuesday, Sept. 17, taking first in team placement for both the boys and girls races.
The boys run first in 2024 and though they weren’t able to secure an individual first place finish on their home course, Hart claimed four of the top five spots.
Freshman Silas Ackley came in nearly 30 seconds after North Muskegon sophomore Barrett Nance claimed the top spot. Ackley finished at 18:28.23, an impressive mark for the young athlete. Behind him were a trio of teammates that included senior Max Stitt (18:58.87), junior Jack Slotman (18:59.76) and freshman Grant Ackley (19:05.85).
Hart wasn’t done there however. After two opposing runners crossed the finish line in the sixth and seventh spot, five more Pirates came cruising in. Sophomores Mason Opalewski (19:15.10) and Carson Ackley (19:17.32) led while freshman Timothy Wolff (19.18.90) and sophomores Aiden Schaner (19:24.16) and Caden VanGelderen (19.37.16) came in behind.
In total, the Pirates accounted for 13 of the top 25 finishers. Junior Bryce Vander Kodde (20:08.77) finished in 16th, senior Ethan Schaner (20:13.30) in 19th, freshman Trevor Vander Kodde (20:22.21) in 21st and sophomore Owen VanderVlucht (20:28.28) in 22nd.
11 other Pirates ran on the boys side as well, rounding out a massive team for Hart.
Though they finished exactly 60 points behind Hart, Hesperia’s team clinched a second place finish as a team. The Panthers were led by a sixth place finish for sophomore Nate Ruhstorfer (19:07.91).
Hesperia senior Andrew Sherburn (19:58.10) and junior Zack Temple (20:00.61) finished back-to-back at 14th and 15th. Rounding out the Panthers’ top seven runners were consecutive finishes for juniors Kolt Milner (24:17.19), Jacob Priese (24:20.35) and Dain Kraus (24:31.83) along with freshman Keegan Roberson (25:02.41) in spots 47-50.
Shelby’s boys came in fourth as a team, with a final score of 97 points. Three Tigers cracked the top 25 with junior Iziquiel Picon (19:46.12) leading the way in 13th place. Freshman Parker Weirich (20:13.81) followed in 20th with senior Ethan Fessenden (20:39.11) coming in 25th.
Alex Crowder (20:45.29) narrowly missed the top 25, coming in 26th place while freshman trio Max Cubillos (26:21.18), Edmund Hayes (27:27.40) and Declan Waller (27:48.73) finished out the top seven runners for Shelby’s boys.
The girls race featured an interesting individual battle at the top of the leaderboards. Hart sophomore Natalie Rosema led that race for a significant portion of the trail, but Shelby sophomore Lydia Soelberg was on her hip the whole way.
In the last stretch, Soelberg pulled in front of Rosema, claiming first place at 21:09.26 to lead the way for Shelby to place second as a team. Behind Soelberg were fellow sophomores Noel Parker (23:13.77) and Grace Hasenbank (24:26.53) in ninth and 13th places.
Freshman Kathryn Beyer (25:33.40) finished in 19th, sophomore Sydney Reed (27:47.59) in 28th, junior April Luna (28:55.90) in 34th and sophomore Emma Smith (30:38.55) in 36th, rounded out the top seven for Shelby’s girls.
Hart still came out on top as a team, defeating second place Shelby by more than 30 points. That was thanks to six of Hart’s top seven finishing in the top 10.
Rosema led the way in second place with a 21:16.50 finish while senior Lexie Beth Nienhuis (22:32.09) came in third and freshman Alaina Schaner (22:42.72) in fourth. Freshman Joselyn Flores finished in sixth at 22:54.22, senior Harriet Kidder (23:06.75) in eighth and freshman Luisa Vander Zwaag (23:18.72) in 10th. Freshman Bryn Riley was the final of Hart’s top seven to cross the finish line, coming in at 23:22.14 for an 11th place finish.
Five additional Hart girls ran as well. Freshman Emery Velat (24:36.60) led that group in 14th place while juniors Kenai Kokx (25:22.29) and Abigail Studer (25:28.32) pulled in 17th and 18th place respectively. Freshman Ellie Gross (27:32.23) claimed 25th place and freshman Baleigh Klotz (30:54.36) finished in 37th.
Hesperia’s limited runners on the girls end featured just two competitors. Sophomore Rokhaya Ruhstorfer (26:47.06) finished in 22nd while junior Elyssa Wright (33:55.19) came in 42nd.
